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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1898)
. di YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY STIRRING UP DEBATE. A University Meeting Addressed by Faculty Members. A meeting was held in Osborn Hall last Friday evening, under the auspices of the Yale Union. Its purpose was a general opening of the subject of de- bate—a presentation of the main facts in the problem to the University. About 200 men were present, and the speakers were enthusiastically received. J. K. Clark, ’99, presided and opened the meeting with a few remarks on the debating work in College and its needs. He said that the purpose of this meet- ing was first to arouse a general inter- est in debating throughout the Univer- sity, and secondly, to impress upon the College the need of a more universal competition for the coming intercol- legiate debates. The first of these de- bates will be that with Princeton on December 2d, in New Haven, for which the preliminary trials will be held in about three weeks. The second of the debates will be held in Cambridge on May 5th against the Harvard team. Mr. Clark announced that the first meet- ing of the Union would occur next Friday evening in Union Hall, and that the subject for debate would be, “Re- solved, That the faculty rule on digests is for the best interests of Yale scholar- ship.” He also explained that the financial burden of defraying the expenses of intercollegiate debating had proved. too great to be borne by the Union under the present system, whereby the yearly dues and the admission fees for the annual debate in New Haven are the only sources of revenue, and it had been decided to open subscription books, so that all who are interested in debating, whether they are able to take an active part in the work or not, may contribute to its support. The first speaker introduced was Pro- fessor W. L. Phelps, who spoke in substance as follows: “In the first place there are several pectliar obstacles to debating here at Yale which have not as yet been en- tirely overcome. The. greatest of these liés in the fact that the debater does not gain as great prestige in under- graduate circles as does the man who devotes his interests to athletics. As a rule, virtue for the debater is its own reward, which perhaps is an unfortu- nate thing for debating. Another dif- ficulty is that men of to-day are slow to appreciate the importance of this art, and are inclined to reserve its use and culture to those whose vocations more fully require it. But debating does not imply ability to speak merely, for its value lies exactly as much in ability to think quickly and definitely. It is the ‘stand and deliver’ knowledge that counts nowadays. And it is this very practice in speaking that enables one to say what he has to say clearly and succinctly. However debating may be regarded by the undergraduate body, the alumni are keen to feel the results of a victory or a defeat. A triumph in debate means more to the outside world than a triumph onthe gridiron, and it is difficult to estimate the enthusiasm with which our alumni have greeted the news of our recent victories. One of the most forcible arguments against those who last year assailed the English course at Yale was the double triumph in our intercol- legiate debates. After the Princeton contest Professor Wilson was reported to have said that, however Yale men were instructed in their English depart- ment, they had certainly learned to speak the language. There are two strong reasons why a man should de- vote some of his interests at least to debating—first to help himself, and second to help his University.” Professor A. M. Wheeler then took the platform and said in part: “One of the greatest reproaches to Yale and to her student body is the lack of interest in debating. I have given a great deal of time to the con~ sideration of the causes for such an apathy, and am of the conviction that they are more external than internal. That is to say, our government has ceased to be a government of speaking and persuasion, and has become one where wire-pulling and machines are generally of greater influence. In Eng- land the speeches delivered in the House of Commons are published in the newspapers and read throughout the country, but in Amercia the people at large pay little attention to such ' matters and the art of public speaking has unquestionably declined. All the more forcibly, then, comes tthe call for college men to enter the field where such an art is cultivated. Oratory may be defined as the art of persuasive speaking, in private as well as in public. How to acquire this art is a problem not solved by a set of rules, but diffi- dence, with which almost every aspir- ant is afflicted, can, with very few excep- tions, be overcome by the will power. Neither great talent nor extraordinary knowledge is absolutely necessary to success. In fact, success has often been attained without these. Nature is chary of her gifts and still more chary of het graces? What better field than is yours here at Yale—the critical yet sympa- thetic audience, the sharp yet friendly rivalry, and instructors willing and anxious to help? These are all effective factors in a thorough development.” Mr. Clark explained that Professor Hadley, who was to have been the next speaker, was unable to be present and introduced Professor Bernadotte Perrin as the last speaker of the even- ing. “Youth and life are characteristics of the great college body,’ said Pro. fessor Perrin. “These are the elements that enrich the soil upon which college institutions flourish, and when we hear of a decreased interest in debating at Yale we are brought face to face with an anomaly—a good soil, and yet death and decay in this most important branch. The soil simply needs to be stirred, and the institution will thrive again. This was the object of to-night’s meeting. What we want is to get more men to take an active part, for it is useless for us to expect success in the Union unless we have a greater num- ber interested in the discussions. We have been lucky enough of late to have happened upon stars of the first magni- ’ tude who have ably represented us in intercollegiate debate, but what we want is a whole firmament of stars, from which those of the first magnitude may be picked almost at random. In regard to the importance in which debating is held at Yale, if the rewards are not accorded by the undergraduate body, at least the alumni appreciate to the fullest extent earliest effort in this direction, and are never slow in show-~__ ing their approbation.” The meeting was adjourned by Mr. Clark with a few appropriate words of thanks to the speakers of the evening. y™ eo, <y <> eo Chamber Concerts. Circulars were sent out last week by the Committee in charge of the Univer- sity Chamber Concerts announcing their plans for the twelfth season, 1898-99. The concerts this season will be four in number, the first three of which will be given in North Sheffield Hall, and the last in College Street Hall. These concerts are given by the Kneisels, alternating with the Adamowski Quar- tet, also of Boston, and begin as usual at 8 o'clock. The dates are: Tuesday evenings, November 1 and December 20 by the Adamowski Quartet; November 29 and February 28, 1890, by the Kneisels. These concerts are open to all members and friends of the University. Tickets may be obtained at the Bur- sar’s Office in Phelps Hall, and at Steinert’s music store, 777 Chapel street. The price of course tickets is two dol- lars and a half; of single tickets one dollar. <i i> we Or Alumni Hall at Cornell, Plans for a new alumni hall and student club house at Cornell Univer- sity, which it is proposed to build on the Cornell Campus by means of con- tributions of the alumni of the Univer- sity, were examined in the College of . Architecture in New York City on Sept. 13th, by Robert D. Andrews of Bos- ton; Walter Cope of Philadelphia, and Chas. A. Rich of New York. The plans which were under examination, which were offered in competition by grad- uates of the College of Architecture at Cornell throughout the United States and some foreign countries, are to be considered as suggestions for the final plans for the new building. The build- ing will cost about $150,000. A prize of $500 has been offered for the best original idea in the way of plans. Greek Prize Awarded. The Hugh Chamberlain Greek Prize, for the best entrance examination in Greek, has been awarded to William Stickney Creevey, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who was prepared privately; with honorable mention of Frederic Burn- ham, of Chicago, Ill., who was prepared at the Harvard School, Chicago, and also of George Eugene Davis, of Hartford, Conn., and William Brian Hooker, of Farmington, Conn., both of whom were prepared at the Hartford Public High School. : . >» ete tts Special Lecturers, The special lecturers for the Yale Divinity School during the coming year are Professor George A. Smith, Ds LL.D.,; ot Glaseow, who: will deliver the Lyman Beecher Lectures; Rev. Henry Van Dyke, D.D., who will lecture on Wordsworth and Browning and Their Message to the Nineteenth Century; Rev. E. M. Bliss, D.D., who will conduct a course of instruction on the history and prosecution of foreign missions; and Professor Karl Budde, of the University of Strassburg, whose lectures will comprise the Fourth Series of American Lectures on the History of Religions. The dates and titles of the latter’s lectures are as follows: Friday, Oct. 14. The origin of the Yahweh-Religion. Saturday, Oct. 15. Yahweh and His Rivals. Monday, Oct. 17. Priests, Prophets, and Kings, as Champions of Yahweh. Friday, Oct. 21. Foreign Powers and the Written Prophecy of the Northern Kingdom. Saturday, Oct. 22, The Similar Con- flict in the Southern Kingdom. Monday, Oct. 24. Judah’s Collapse and the Bases of its Re-establishment. Each lecture will be given in Room A 1, Osborn Hall, beginning at 8 Pp. m. There is no charge for admission. ws Rs is A meeting of the Intercollegiate Ten- nis Association was held here on Friday evening, October 7, and the election of officers resulted as follows: President, Davis of Harvard; Vice-President, Little of Princeton; Secretary, Allen of Yale. Ware of Harvard was elected as the delegate to the National Conven- tion. ELDER SWA ON | INSURANCE. The famous revivalist of Connecticut, of fifty years ago, conceived of the new fad of life insurance as a heinous sin, against which he thundered from the pulpit or convention platform. It was to him a sign of a lack of faith, and one of the “snares of a perverse generation.” In one of his sermons he represented John the Baptist as answering the question as to where he was going, by replying that he had rested on the Jewish religious faith for all these years and yet had been sorely troubled, and he was now going to Jerusalem to get his life insured. Elder Swan pictured the horrible effect on the new religion if any such illustra- tion of a lack of faith had been allowed: This incident is interesting as indicating, even by a false conception of it, the ethical side of insurance. As Mr. Woodward says in his history of “Insurance in Connecticut,” in quoting this incident : “Prejudice yielded to enlightened dis- cussion, and the act condemned by the good Elder as a sin is now rated one of the duties.’’ There is no question that most men reckon life insurance as a duty, and there is also no doubt that it may be made a very pleasant and attrac- tive duty. If you doubt this you may inquire of the PHOENIX MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF HARTFORD, CONN. g JONATHAN B. BUNCE, President. | JOHN M. HOLCOMBE, Vice-Pres. | - CHARLES H. LAWRENCE, Sec’y. POYNETTE -2'2 FRONT- HEIGHT-BACK2 t 7 : hy Wy Gf '' { qj ——— — > =i a 5. ae aN oe ‘No, boys; I have not been burning the midnight oil to get all that material for my address. 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